It's been a big week for video games thanks to everything that's going on at this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. However, most of what's being presented, discussed and announced at the show isn't going to be playable for at least a couple of months. So, to help you bide the time, check out this week's Virtual Goods for some good stuff that's available right now.
1. Max and the Magic Marker
(Wii)
Freshly minted as an Independent Games Festival award
winner, Max and the Magic Marker makes its console debut this week as WiiWare. Use Max's magic marker to help
him navigate through his dangerous world of drawings. The mysterious magic
marker can draw anything in the world in order to help Max figure out his
puzzles, and make his way over the platforms. Yeah, it's kind of like Scribblenauts,
but you don't need a degree in English to make it to the end of this game.
1000 Wii Points
2. BioShock 2 Sinclair Suggestions Tester Pack (Xbox 360. PS3)
Depending on your opinion of the campaign in BioShock 2, it
may have left something to be desired when compared to the original. However,
there is one thing that the sequel had that the original didn't; multiplayer,
and that means that multiplayer downloadable content was inevitable. The first
batch hit this week in the form of the Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack for both
the Xbox 360 and PC and it upps the experience rank to 50, adds upgrades and
trials along with new characters and masks. That's a whole lot of new content,
and it should give you even more of a reason to spend the weekend in Rapture.
. 400 MS Points or $4.99 on PSN
3. Final Fantasy II (Wii)
In Japan, after the original Final Fantasy came Final
Fantasy II and III, however in
the U.S. after the original Final Fantasy came Final Fantasy II, which was
really Japan's Final Fantasy IV.
Don't try and figure it out, it'll make your head hurt. But, if you have fond
memories of venturing around the Blue Planet with Cecil and crew then now is
your chance to relive all those long hours grinding for XP on your SNES by
grinding for long hours on your Wii.
800 Wii Points
4. Scrap Metal (Xbox 360)
Scrap
Metal is like the unholy offspring conceived during a
twisted video game three-way between R.C.
Pro Am, Twisted Metal and Ivan "Iron Man" Stewart's Super
Off Road. While you try to figure out which game got stuck in the middle,
go download Scrap Metal it'll race
your face off with its awesomeness. (Yeah, it's so good that I don't even care
that that doesn't make sense.) 1200 MS Points
5. Rock Band Unplugged Lite (PSP)
EA and Harmonix have converged on a unique idea for
the PSP: release a feature complete version of your title, with a limited
number of songs, at a discount price, and then get them to buy more songs in
the App ... woops, I mean game. Now available to the general downloading public, and
not just the select few that jumped on the Rock
Band edition PSP Go, Unplugged Lite only comes with five songs, but that just means you can tailor your entire
collections to songs that you actually like courtesy of the game's DLC. Take
that 3 Doors Down. $4.99 on PSN
6. Mag Uniforms (PS3)
What's the best way to distinguish yourself on a
battlefield with 255 other players? By wearing a fancy new uniform, of course.
Sony is now offering MAG owners the option to download three new uniforms
(Spyder, Hazard, and Bulldog) for the game for free, so that the next time you get shot trying to
secure your enemies base you'll look good doing it. Free!
7. The X-Men (1963) (PSP)
For those of you out there that are using your PSP as
a comic book reader, and even for those of you that are not, this message is
for you. Marvel has just released X-Men number one as a downloadable comic, and
you need to go buy it. Everyone should get a glimpse at the humble beginnings
of Marvel's greatest mutant crime fighting force. Stop complaining about the
fact that it costs $1.99, because that's a lot better than paying a few
thousand to get your hands on the original. $1.99 on PSN
